Duke Energy has asked state regulators for permission to raise its rates on customers in the Pee Dee region of the state, but it's uncertain if the company will later request a rate hike in the Upstate.

Customers in Florence, Darlington and Sumter counties would see their bills rise by 1.1 percent to 2.7 percent, Duke Energy said.

"This is an annual adjustment for the cost of fuel used by the utility Duke Energy Progress," said spokesman Ryan Mosier. "This filing has no impact on Greenville customers."

The increase would affect 168,000 customers in the Pee Dee. If approved by the state Public Service Commission, customers of the company's subsidiary in that region would see their bills rise beginning July 1.

Duke Energy's 582,000 Upstate customers, meanwhile, could see their rates go up as well if Duke Energy Carolinas asks for a similar increase in July.

Mosier was unable to say whether the company intended to request that increase.

In the Pee Dee, typical residential customers using 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month would see their bills increase from the current $121.47 to $124.71, an increase of $3.24, or 2.7 percent, according to the company.

Commercial customers would see an average increase in their bills of about 1.1 percent, and industrial customers would receive an average increase of about 2.4 percent.

"By law, the company makes no profit from the fuel component of rates," Duke Energy said in a press release. "Duke Energy Progress is proposing an increase in monthly fuel costs for its South Carolina customers beginning this summer as part of an annual adjustment of the actual cost of fuel used to generate electricity at its power plants."